In 1937, Oklahoma City grocer Sylvan Goldman unveiled a folding metal contraption that would one day roll through every supermarket in America — the shopping cart. But there was a problem: his customers flat-out refused to use it. What did Goldman do to save his invention? He paid shoppers a nickel per trip to push one He hired actors to stroll the aisles pushing carts He removed all the hand baskets from the store He gave carts away free to rival grocery chains None In 1957, engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes sealed two shower curtains together in a Hawthorne, New Jersey garage, trapping air bubbles between them. They were sure they'd invented the next big thing — but it wasn't packaging. What were they actually trying to sell? Textured wallpaper An inflatable pool liner Padded raincoats Soundproofing for recording studios None In 1893, Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition needed a showstopper — something to answer the Eiffel Tower, the sensation of Paris's fair four years earlier. A 33-year-old Pittsburgh engineer named George Ferris proposed a machine most experts called insane. What did the original Ferris Wheel carry? 12 cars holding 8 riders each 36 cars holding 60 riders each 100 open benches, two riders apiece 20 gondolas holding 25 riders each None Before it became a toy, the squishy compound we know as Play-Doh was sold for decades by a Cincinnati company called Kutol Products — for a completely different household purpose. What was it originally? Furniture polish Pie dough substitute for window displays Wallpaper cleaner Plumber's pipe sealant None In 1886, Josephine Cochrane of Shelbyville, Illinois — a socialite famous for her dinner parties — patented a machine that changed the American kitchen forever. What pushed her to invent the automatic dishwasher? Her servants kept chipping her heirloom china A bet with a rival hostess Her husband refused to hire kitchen help A soap company offered a cash prize None Stumper. In 1942, Eastman Kodak chemist Harry Coover discovered a compound so aggressively sticky that it was rejected as useless — twice — before anyone realized what it was worth. It became super glue. What was Coover's team trying to make when the substance first appeared? Waterproof tent seams for the Army Clear plastic gun sights for the war effort A faster-drying model airplane cement Heat-shielding paint for bomber engines None Time's up
